Contemporary Issues Report 2022

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUE REPORT
CONTEMPORARY ISSUE REPORT
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Abstract
In this report the different theories of crime in relation to the psychological and
sociological factors are discussed for the reasons for criminal behaviour among the
unemployed men. The definition of crime is complex and is observed to be changing with
cultures and times. There are many causes of crimes searches poverty, lack of education, drug
and alcohol abuse, the environment an individual has grown up in, lack of job opportunities.
The roles of the adult individuals in a society, such as employment, parenthood on marriage
have been considered by the criminologists to be important in the crime desistance process.
In the recent times an important reason for the increasing crime is said to be the study rise of
unemployment among people. In the report various theories such as the biological theory,
psychological theories, sociological theories, anomie/strain theory and social control theory
have been discussed in relation to crime among men, especially among the unemployed.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Unemployment and crime..........................................................................................................4
Theories of crime.......................................................................................................................5
Biological theories of crime...................................................................................................5
Psychological theories of crime.............................................................................................5
Sociological theories of crime................................................................................................5
Anomie/strain theory..............................................................................................................5
Social Control theory.............................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Reference....................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The aim for the study of criminology is to find the answer to the question why
individuals commit crime. The main cause of crime cannot be determined as a single
phenomenon. However it can be seen as an outcome of several conditions in relation to
society, economy, family, or culture of an individual. The definition of crime is not simple
and can be seen as changing with time and culture across many countries. For example it can
be observed certain activities like alcohol consumption is legal in countries like the UK,
however, it is illegal in in the countries with strict Muslim cultures. For this reason various
theories are used in discussing the reason for criminal behaviour among individuals.
Criminology can be defined as the scientific study of crime in relation to the nature, extent,
control, consequence, the causes and the prevention of crime and criminal behaviour among
individuals. The theories used in criminology are seen as covering the deviant behaviours and
patterns included in the activities of the criminals. Three major types of theories in
criminology are used. These three these are- biological, sociological, and psychological
(Hagan and Daigle, 2018).
As per the biological theories of crime has been assumed by the criminologists that
individuals are born with criminal attributes. Sociological theories on the other hand propose
that an individual's behaviour is shaped by way of the external factors such as the
neighbourhood, peer pressure and family. In the psychological theories of crime it has been
proposed by the criminologists that the criminal behaviour of an individual is dictated by way
of the thoughts or feelings of the person.
There are many causes of crimes such as poverty, lack of education, drug and alcohol
abuse, the environment an individual has grown up in, lack of job opportunities. The roles of
the adult individuals in a society, such as employment, parenthood on marriage have been
considered by the criminologists to be important in the crime desistance process. In the recent
times an important reason for the increasing crime is said to be the study rise of
unemployment among people. In this report detailed analysis has been done linking the
relation between unemployment and crime with special reference to the various theories of

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crime such as the biological theories, sociological theories, psychological theories,
anomie/strain theories and the social control theories.
Unemployment and crime
The lack of income opportunities that are legal among the individuals can be seen as
an important factor in the rise of criminal activities. If an individual’s income is high it is
seen as preventing from potentially committing crime because of the fear of losing his
income source. In the recent times decline in the opportunities in the labour market has
resulted in the lack of income opportunities which in turn has affected the crime rates.
Because of lack of employment, individuals are led towards crime as a source of
income from an early age. Property crimes are more prevalent among the unemployed
individuals then the crime that are violent in nature. A positive correlation between crime and
unemployment rate is found. The correlation not only exist with the unemployment rate but
also with the rates of high school graduation rates, number of police officers, poverty rate and
the GDP per capita. As per multiple researches conducted over the years a link has been
found between the rate of unemployment and the rate of crime. It has been the belief of many
people that rise in criminal activities are led by steady rise of unemployment among the
youth.
According to the reports published by the Office for National Statistics the
unemployment rate among the individuals who are aged over 16 years is 3.8 % as of July
2019. The employment rate in UK has been estimated at 76.1%. The total unemployed
individuals above the age of 16 years husband reported as 1294000. Female unemployment
rate has been reported at 3.6 % and the employment rate among the male population has been
reported to be 4%. Economic inactivity rate in UK in 2019 estimated at 20.8%. Comparing to
the rates of unemployment in the previous years, there has been observed steady decline in
the unemployment process and increase in employment of youth in the UK in 2019 (Ons,
2019).
As there has been observations of growing employment rate in the UK observations is
also been made about the decrease in the level of crimes. As for the Office of National
Statistics in the recent years there has been an overall decrease in the level of crime. In the
2019 data report there has been a mixed picture observed where some types of fraud and have

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been sceneries continuing to rise on the other hand steady decline in certain crimes like
burglary. As per the data of Crime Survey for England and Wales increase in certain offences
like vehicle offences, theft, robbery, offences including knives and sharp instruments,
whereas there has been a steady decline in offences like burglary, homicide and computer
misuse(Ons, 2019).
Theories of crime
Biological theories of crime
According to the biological theories of crime the criminal behaviour of an individual
as a result of their characteristics instead of social or psychological conditions. In this theory
it has been assume that the behaviour of an individual are affected by the factors like
environment they are raised in, their nature, or certain other biological factors. For example
any individual growing up in a troubled household would have tendency towards the
commitment of crime more than any normal individual would. Any person growing up in a
environment where there is poverty and lack of opportunities of employment, would have a
higher chance of committing crimes for a a better lifestyle then someone growing up in a
normal household where there is presence of sustainable incomes (Lanier, 2018).
Psychological theories of crime
Individual factors that result in in the difference in the patterns of thoughts of an
offender for committing crime are studied in the psychological theories. In the theory the
factors like negative childhood experiences, inadequacy towards socialization can be seen as
resulting in the development of criminal activities among individuals. According to this
theory any experience in the early childhood of an individual could lead them towards the
mentality of committing crimes. When individuals are raised in poverty and in social
payments where there a lack of opportunities for proper education and employment they tend
to develop criminal mentalities from very early age (White, Haines and Asquith, 2017).
Sociological theories of crime
As per the sociological theories the connection of an individual neighbourhood, peers,
family and social environment shape their view on crime. According to this theory a person
growing up in a disturbing neighbourhood where there is a prevalence of crime the individual
would have a high chance of growing up having criminal behaviour (Vito and Maahs, 2015).

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Anomie/strain theory
According to the classical anomie/strain theory the chances of an individual to
become deviant when a gap can be found between the material and cultural goals of a person
and the means for the achievement of those goals.
Social Control theory
The main focus in the Social Control theory is the reason for the individuals to be
obeying the law. As per the theory an individual would be more in obedience of law if there
are strong social bonds existing between them, the weaker the bond gets the more individuals
are seen as committing crimes.
Conclusion
In this report the different theories of crime in relation to the psychological and
sociological factors are discussed for the reasons for criminal behaviour among the
unemployed men. In this report a detailed analysis has been done about the the reason for
rising crime among the unemployed men. In discussing the same various theoretical
approaches such as biological theory, psychological theories, sociological theories,
anomie/strain theory and social control theories have been discussed. In furtherance the
national statistics reports of 2019 for unemployment and for crime rates have also been
mentioned. There are many causes of crimes searches poverty, lack of education, drug and
alcohol abuse, the environment an individual has grown up in, lack of job opportunities. In
the recent times decline in the opportunities in the labour market has resulted in the lack of
income opportunities which in turn has affected the crime rates. Because of lack of
employment, individuals are led towards crime as a source of income from an early age. In
conclusion it can be said that there is a lot for the government to do for decreasing the rate of
crime among the unemployed men. Activities like management and trainings for resisting
peer pressure, underage drinking and drug abuse are needed to be invested more in for the
youth to be desisting from crime. The government also needs to incorporate proper education
measures and jobs to the poor communities for the desistance of crime.

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Reference
Hagan, F.E. and Daigle, L.E., 2018. Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and
criminal behavior. Sage Publications.
Lanier, M.M., 2018. Essential criminology. Routledge.
Ons (2019). Crime and justice - Office for National Statistics. [online] Ons.gov.uk. Available
at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice
Ons (2019). Unemployment rate (aged 16 and over, seasonally adjusted) - Office for
National Statistics. [online] Ons.gov.uk. Available at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/
timeseries/mgsx/lms
Vito, G.F. and Maahs, J.R., 2015. Criminology. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
White, R., Haines, F. and Asquith, N.L., 2017. Crime & criminology.